Blind Dog Afraid To Leave His Bed Gets A Second Chance Thanks To His Unlikely Best Friend

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that life is so much easier to navigate when you can see what’s ahead of you—literally. For canines especially, the loss of sight can be devastating. Sure, dogs might have strong senses of smell and hearing to make up for it, but for the most part, a blind dog is truly limited in what he can do… unless he has a little help.

Take Terfel, for instance. The blind farm dog never left his tiny box bed for fear of bumping into things and getting hurt. Unlike his human friends with limited-sight, he didn’t have the ability to carry a cane or some other device. Terfel’s mobility was severely limited… that is, until he met an unlikely friend that would change the rest of his life!

While there are plenty of tools and gadgets to help people who are visually impaired, there’s nothing to assist our furry friends with limited sight. This was especially a problem for a 14-year-old farm dog named Terfel.

Terfel’s upbringing wasn’t a happy one. According to his current owner, Judy Godfrey-Brown of Holyhead, North Wales, Terfel’s previous owner threw him against the wall as a puppy, which tragically caused him to go partially deaf. It also altered his vision.

Life took another unfortunate turn for Terfel when he was eight years old. Veterinarians spotted cataracts on his eyes, and soon they turned a foggy, milky white. Each day, it became more difficult for him to see anything at all.

Eventually, the already-partially deaf dog couldn’t walk through the house without bumping into the furniture and hurting himself. He learned to stay in his dog bed most of the time so he didn’t risk any injuries.

This was not an ideal life for a farm dog who needed plenty of exercise to stay healthy. He would’ve likely slept in his basket for the rest of his life if Judy hadn’t gotten a brilliant idea…

One day, while Terfel was curled up in his basket, Judy took in a stray cat she named Pudditat. He was a very mean cat. “He’s not very nice to the other cats,” Judy told NatGeo. “He will bully the other cats a bit into submission.”

Pudditat “prefers Terfel to any of the other cats,” Judy said. “I think he must have known Terfel was blind because he sort of bonded with him straight away.” Judy added, “I’ve never seen anything like it—most cats and dogs hate each other.”

Judy couldn’t say enough about Pudditat’s intuition—a sixth sense, as she called it. “I think Pudditat must have realized that Terfel was a bit vulnerable,” she said. “He just seemed to know that there was a need there—somehow.”

Still, this friendship went far beyond just a few late-evening snuggles in the shared bed where Terfel and Pudditat slept side-by-side. Pudditat took on another role entirely in Terfel’s life…

Pudditat offered Terfel more than friendship; he dedicated his services as a seeing eye cat! Perhaps he took after Judy, who’d once been a public servant. Either way, the cat wanted to help, and so he became Terfel’s crutch and guide.

According to Judy, Terfel relied “on [Pudditat] to help him get around and avoid bumping into things.” Somehow, through an inexplicable bond, Terfel became more confident with his feline helper around.

Make no mistake, this wasn’t a case of Terfel making friends with every creature that rubbed up against him. Judy owned five other cats before Pudditat and he didn’t show them the same affections. Pudditat and Terfel’s relationship was truly unique!

So how does the duo get around? “He uses his paws to guide him,” Judy explained. “They are glued to each other.” Indeed, Pudditat would often lead the blind pooch from his spot on the couch to other parts of the house. He’d even paw open a door or two for him!

Still, Pudditat didn’t limit himself to helping Terfel avoid bumping into couches, corners, or chairs. The cat also helped Terfel get back to his farm dog roots by guiding his canine friend outdoors, too!

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen [a dog-cat duo] that have got on quite so well as these two, and they relied upon each other in that same way,” Judy said. It’s tough to think what these fellas’ lives might have been like without one another!

Without Pudditat in his life, Terfel would have undoubtedly wasted away indoors. And Pudditat would have likely lived a life of solitude with no interest in his feline companions. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case!

What a great pair of friends! It’s amazing that these two could put aside their interspecies rivalry and depend on each other for affection, guidance, and confidence. Check out the video below to see these incredible friends in action!

For dogs like Terfel, being blind may make the world a darker place. It sure helps having a friend like Pudditat to be a guiding light!